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Oct 1, 2012

Pastor Appreciation Month!

I was recently thrilled to discover that October is Pastor Appreciation Month. Mothers, grandparents, and even Jesus on his birthday get only a single 24-hour period to be celebrated. Clergy, on the other hand, get ONE WHOLE MONTH!! I've never been more excited for a month to arrive, even when Bryna was eight months pregnant with our first-born. Just imagine: the gratitude, the thanks, the affirmation that I will receive this month. In a word, it will be epic.

As a public service to grateful parishioners, I've scoured the internet for Pastor Appreciation Month gift suggestions. If you really want to impress your pastor and guarantee your name is written in the Book of Life, you'll purchase at least one of these thoughtful gifts.

Any pastor would be proud to display this appreciation plaque in his office. It would likely make up for all the trophies he didn't win in elementary school and give him new-found confidence in his pastoral abilities. Plus the faux crystal is shiny.

What pastor wouldn't want a mini-pulpit with a cheesy poem on it to place on his or her bookcase next to the copy of Rabbi Friedman's "Generation to Generation?" It's also fun to preach to stuffed animals using sock puppets.

Every pastor loves cake. Especially cake shaped like a vaguely religious looking book. Make sure to personally deliver it to the pastor's house at an inconvenient time (which would pretty much be at any hour).

Anytime you can give a pastor a framed saying that feeds into the inherent Messiah complex, you've done a good deed. If you really want to do it right, throw in a pair of birkenstocks, a toga, and a crown of thorns.

Most pastors don't have nearly enough crosses in their lives. Usually only fifteen or so hung up in their offices plus countless others in their homes. What they really need is one more with "Pastor" written across it to remind them of Christ's self-giving sacrifice on Cavalry.

If none of these gift ideas resonate with you, here are a few other possibilities:

I realize it is a play on words, but your title is "Rector" so don't get your hopes up! Well, perhaps one of those rear window stickers for the car that says "Pastor" in hopes of not getting a ticket....sort of like the FOP stickers that don't work!